Washington: India told United States that “motivated comments” on the country's internal issues are not welcome following comments by Rashad Hussain, the Biden administration’s ambassador at large for international religious freedom, on hijab row in Karnataka. The US official earlier said that “The Indian state of Karnataka should not determine permissibility of religious clothing. Hijab bans in schools violate religious freedom and stigmatise and marginalise women and girls,” he said.
Asserting that “a matter regarding dress code in some educational institutions in the state of Karnataka is under judicial examination by the high court of the state”, foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. “Those who know India well would have a proper appreciation of these realities. Motivated comments on our internal issues are not welcome. ” Pakistan had earlier summoned India’s top diplomat to register a protest on the hijab issue.
Criticism of the developments in Karnataka also came from the Muslim civil rights and advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which said the hijab ban is “just one more example of the mistreatment of Indian Muslims and the Islamophobic actions that nation’s government either carries out, ignores or excuses”. Leading public intellectual Noam Chomsky was among those who came down on the Modi government, accusing it of “systematically dismantling Indian secular democracy” and turning Muslims into a “persecuted minority”.
